During a game of golf, golfers typically carry a set of golf clubs in a golf bag or the like. Conventional golf bags are usually fabricated from a relatively soft material and are open at the upper end to allow access to the clubs contained within the golf bag. Conventional golf bags have one or more straps that are utilized to carry the bag on the user or caddy's shoulder. Alternatively, some golfers may choose to strap the golf bag to a motorized cart or a handcart. In fact, on many new golf courses, the use of motorized carts is required or all golfers.
While a golf bag provides a convenient method of carrying a set of golf clubs, and golf carts further facilitate the mobility of such clubs, it is still often impractical to carry the entire set of golf clubs to every shot.
For example, a golfer near a putting green typically needs only short-range clubs, such as a putter, a pitching or sand wedge, or perhaps a lob wedge. As it is usually against the course rules to place a golf bag or drive a golf cart on or near the putting greens, golfers frequently find their entire set of clubs quite a distance from where they must actually make a shot. As a result, golfers typically remove a subset of clubs from their golf bag and transport the clubs by hand to their golf ball at a location near the putting green.
Another example of the impracticality of bringing one's entire set of clubs to the ball is evident where golf courses do not allow a golf cart to be driven off of a paved trail. Many golf balls, of course, land a considerable distance from such paved trails. It is clearly impractical, in such a situation, to unstrap the golf bag from the golf cart each and every time one leaves the cart to find the ball. In addition, where pace of play is strictly enforced, it may also be impractical in terms of time considerations. More likely, the golfer will try to anticipate which clubs he or she may need and then bring that particular subset of clubs to the ball. However, if the golfer guesses incorrectly and does not bring the correct club, he must walk back to his golf bag and get the correct club or play the shot with a club that the golfer would preferably not use.
In all such situations, where a golfer is away from his golf bag with a subset of his golf clubs, several problems become evident. First, after a golfer has selected the proper club for the shot, the remaining clubs are typically laid on the ground near the golfer. This not only causes the handles of these clubs to contact a potentially wet and dirty grass surface, but the possibility of forgetting these clubs after the shot is greatly increased. Moreover, while it is easy to carry one golf club, it is not always easy to carry two or three. Still further, while picking golf clubs up from the ground is not all that difficult, it does require the golfer to bend down and scoop the shafts up with his hand, which inevitably causes a golfers hand or glove to become wet and soiled unnecessarily. Finally, in areas of deep grass, one or more clubs may be submerged within the grass and inadvertently be left behind after the golfer executes the shot.
It is thus highly desirable to provide a golf club carrier that is easy to use and transport and addresses each of these concerns.